I am debating weither to get a lightweight battery like a Dyna Batt, or a Hawker to shave some weight off my vehicle. The other option is to mount the stock battery in the trunk, to shift some weight to the rear. Does any body have any thoughts on this?? I am not worried about cold weather starting, because My 'stang is parked all winter. I have also heard if you mount your battery in the trunk you need a disconnect switch to be legal at the drag strip? :confused3

 

Mike:

I think mounting the battery in the trunk is a great idea for some who races a lot. I have not ever seen any claims as to 1/4 mile gains, but I have seen studies that show that placing the battery over the right rear wheel adds 60 - 70 lbs to the wheel. Keep in the mind that the weight change is due to lifting weight from the front and placing it in the back, not because the battery weighs 70 lbs.

Steeda makes a nice setup for making this change and I think it is about $185. On their web site I belive they also make the 70 lb claim I spoke of above. I am sure that MT can get it for you too. I wonder if TrueBlue02 (Dean) has any comments on this. His 245 rwhp '02 stang with a/c and a back seat is running 12.9 in the 1/4 mile and I am not sure if he has made this mod yet.

Regarding going with a smaller battery, the result would not be as good I would not think, but should be cheaper to do. Personally, I would worry about electrical issues with a smaller battery on a car that is driven frequently espcially when a bottle warmer is used and things like that.

 

Go with the light weight battery. I am getting ready to put one in for the race season. Shaves 28 pounds off the front end. A rear mount actually adds quite a bit of weight, given the amount of heavy gauge wire it takes to connect it. Plus leaves plenty of room in the trunck for nitrous.

 

yeah go with the lighter battery ive seen a guy use his lawn mower battery just for the track he didnt gain any time but he was still testing since he removed a hundred pounds from his car (i.e. front seat rear seat and about 30pds for the battery). the night before he ran a 12.09 and the day he removed all thoe items he pulled a 12.2. kenne bell powered automatic with 3.73 and all stock exhaust

 

My car still has the o.e. battery and the pos post corrodes up all the time. I don't drive the car during the winter and will be replacing the battery this spring. I would love a trunk mount to offset my weight and place it on the r.r. wheel but I think it's not worth all the trouble. I would like a dry cell optima but they are expensive and I'm not sure if they are much lighter than a conventional acid filled battery. I know there are some new brands of small light weight batteries but I'm not sure about there durability or problems you may encounter having a warranty issue. I have had good luck with delco batteries and Interstate as far as not having any leaking post issues and they can be purchased for about half the price of the optima.

 

Trunk mount batteries are more work than most people thing that is why I am leaning toward the light weight battery. With electronic engine control you really have to make sure your grounds are very low resistance or you might have drivability problems, this is the hardest part of the conversion.

 

Unless your running some monster stereo at idle constantly the small batteries will be fine. Your car doesn't use the battery after its started anyway. Go start your car and remove the battery completely...it won't make a difference. For a DD, I would go back to the normal battery in colder climates. The small batteries just don't have the CCA capacity that the big ones do. Have the MT guys talk to me or Dean(TruBlu02) about a group purchase we are currently working on. The more we get to buy them the cheaper we should be able to get them.

Adam

 

I would be interested in a group buy is anybody else is?

 

optima batts are about 30 or 35 lbs. and they do cost about 120 outta my price range for a battery when mine still works fine its about 5 years old now. i should start my car and let it run i have drove it in a about 2 weeks frozen in my lawn haha

 

I think we are in the $70 range for the small batteries..they weigh 15lbs. I don't want to pimp stuff without admins approval though.


Adam

 

I would be interested in purchasing a lightweight battery if it was only 70 dollars.